STREB performed "Wild Blue Yonder" at the Bagley Wright Theatre on the Seattle Center campus as part of the 2005 Bumbershoot Festival on Saturday/Sunday/Monday, September 3/4/5, 2005. Some local press reviews:

Regina Hackett in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (scroll down to the bottom of the series of pocket reviews of all manner of Bumbershoot events):

STREB will perform outdoors at the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art on Thursday, September 8, 2005 and at the Napa Opera House on Saturday/Sunday, September 10/11, 2005. I urge those within range of these performances to make the effort to attend -- you will be rewarded!

Well, leaped flat on its face -- and its torso, thighs and toes. At each spectacular splat of body slamming onto Plexiglas or gymnastic mat, an audience packed to the square's last brick gasped and shivered its approval.

Over 6000 people crammed into Pioneer Square for Steb’s gravity defying performance. Where were you?

Physics met the physical as the company’s dancers slammed, slid and flew into each other. I could hear equal amount wow and owww emanating from the crowd . At some moments complete silence prevailed as dancers walked the rafters taking a swan dive into the mats far below.

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TBA Blog* If you go to this link, at the bottom of the article/comment, you can click on a button that says "after" and it will lead you five or so more blog entries/reviews of the show....

Last edited by epist on Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.

It was great to see so many lovely Critical Dance folk at the Seattle and Napa Shows.

Nice to put faces to names of posters on the board.

Thanks for coming out. I hope you had a good time/worth the trip.

Napa show was quite an experience. Fitting the show into a theater/stage that was about 10 feet shallower than we technically need and a proscenium arch of only 17 feet (used to a 30 foot arch...) plus a crew made up, half, of high schoolers.

Made for a rather nerve racking show on our part. I hope it didn't show to much. We had a great time anyway. It is definitley odd going from selling out three shows at a rock fest (700 seat house?) then doing the show in PDX for 6000 people, then going to Napa (250? 300 seet house?) and not filling either show more than about 75%.

Glad to finally be home and back into rehearsals for our studio run coming in November.

Just when I am beginning to be tempted to think that I maybe, just maybe have seen it all with dance and might be becoming bored with dance – somewhat like Prince Orlovsky in Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” who is bored with everything – along comes something completely different. With titles like Wild Blue Yonder; Spin; Air; SLIPANDSLIDE; Ricochet; Bilevel; Rise and Fall; Gravity; Slapstick; Squirm; and Fly, you know you’re in for a wild ride at the theatre. Did I mention it’s something completely different?

Elizabeth Streb’s company pushes the meaning of “amazing” beyond what white-wigged Webster could have imagined. It’s certainly not your average dance concert either. Streb really takes it to the max. She has a background in ballet and modern dance and is “fascinated by physics.” Streb is currently working on an M.A. in time and space through the study of physics, philosophy and architecture.

Company pieces work the vertical part of the theatre space particularly. One of the hallmarks of their work is falling – and not just a nice Humphrey or Graham fall and recovering from the floor – but from height of up to 25 feet in the air onto mats. They’ve come up with a word and technique for effecting this called “popping.” This show falls into the category of “don’t try this at home!”

The sheer physical daring of the dancers is truly impressive and amazing. Their technique, timing, and sense of play and humor come through. A couple of my favorites included “Fly,” where a harnessed dancer is strapped to the end of what looks like a long catapult and is swung in arching circles at changing levels while other dancers interact underneath – and try not to get hit by this device.

Another was a take on the glass ant hill farm, called “Squirm.” The dancers fill up an aquarium and yes, while we think it’s completely too full, along comes one more who works his way up from the bottom and out from the top, then dives back in and comes back out the bottom.

Part dance, part gymnastics, part Cirque du Soleil, part physics lesson, and all exciting theatre, STREB will not fail to impress, delight, and appeal.

It’s never too late to imagine something new under the sun in dance and never too late to get in this tardy review!

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